Blood Red by Anita Waller

Author:Anita Waller [Waller, Anita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloodhound Books

* * *

Luke couldn’t help but be impressed by Hattie Pearson’s lounge. He had time to look around him while she made their pot full of tea and plate full of scones, and he realised what a true cottage it was. Her suite was a wooden one, with comfortably deep cushions. She had a small table of the same wood by each seat, the carpet was a caramel colour beautifully set off by the duck egg blue walls, and the patterned curtains reflected the colours inherent in the room. It seemed that the creative talents were present in both mother and daughter. Hattie didn’t overfill with knick-knacks; the ones on display were clearly antiques with the exception of a little duck. He stood and walked over to where it had pride of place on the chunky oak beam above the wood burner.

He heard the door open, and he put down the duck before going to help her manoeuvre the serving trolley across the thick carpet.

‘It’s a duck,’ she said.

He smiled at her. ‘I was busy admiring your other things. They’re old?’

She poured the teas. ‘They are. I don’t know if it’s still there because I haven’t been for a while, but there’s a garden centre at Calver Crossroads. Part of it was an antiques centre, and I picked most of them up there. A couple I inherited from my mum. The duck is the odd one out, but my most precious item.’

‘Evelyn made it,’ he said.

‘She did. She was only five when she asked if she could have some proper clay. I’ve always been quite creative and it was soon clear she was streets in front of me with her ideas. Anyway, I got her the clay, she spent a couple of days playing with it, getting the feel of it. The result was two ducks. This is one of them, and the other she gave to her teacher at school for a Christmas present. The teacher thanked her of course, but she sent a letter home to me telling me how talented Evelyn was, in every aspect of craft work.’

Luke walked across and picked up the duck. ‘She was five when she made this?’ He looked underneath and saw a barely visible EP.

Hattie nodded. ‘I have pictures that she drew at that age, they are equally as amazing. But it was clay that she loved. Either moulding it, or sculpting. There is still a kiln in that shed at the bottom of the garden. The world lost a true talent when she was killed.’ She placed Luke’s tea and a small plate that held a buttered scone on the table by his chair. ‘Come and get your tea, and tell me what you’ve found out.’

‘Okay, it’s not a lot, but it’s a start. However, Hattie Pearson, seventy-four-year-old dynamo, I want your firm pinky promise that you won’t attempt to find out anything further for yourself, and won’t approach anybody I may mention when we talk.’

She thought about it for a moment, then held up her little finger.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.